Read and Speak Arabic for Beginners 
asked by benzdrives on November 19, 2006 5:09 PM
READ AND SPEAK LANGUAGES FOR BEGINNERS
Basics made easy--and fun!
Extraordinarily accessible and highly effective, Read and Speak Languages for Beginners guides make it easier than ever for English-speaking language learners to master the basics of three particularly difficult languages--Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. Using a variety of ingenious educational tools that instruct as they entertain, these unique beginners' guides help learners conquer the difficulties presented by script as they master basic conversational sentence structures.
Ideal for tourists and business travelers, the books are organized around the seven key areas of everyday life--names and nationality; naming objects; positions and places; describing possessions; appearances; family; and jobs and workplaces--and feature:
Clear explanations of how basic phrases are used for practical communication Entertaining activities, games, and puzzles Illustrated flash cards that help in the memorization of key phrases A 60-minute CD, featuring speaking and listening exercises and audio gamesReviews
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This book is okay for someone who wants to learn Arabic as the formal language as in books, Quraan, writings, and news, not the everyday spoken language. This book is not for you, if you want to learn a particular dialect from a particular country.
reviewed by redsink on November 26, 2006 5:07 PM
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This is a good book for people starting to learn Arabic. It has useful phrases and explains the language well. A good trick the book uses is to write names like "Jane" in Arabic. It's much easier to learn to read Arabic if you work with words you know.
On the downside the flashcards that come with the book aren't very good. They are too small and printed on paper that is too thin.
On the downside the flashcards that come with the book aren't very good. They are too small and printed on paper that is too thin.
reviewed by theriver on November 27, 2006 8:20 AM
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Great little book, easy to follow and understand. Excellent for someone just starting or wanting simple phrases to travel. Overall, a great way to grasp the idea as well as quick and easy.
reviewed by iread on November 28, 2006 11:14 PM
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There are lots of learn Arabic books out there. For your money's worth, many can provide you with much more information.
So why this choose this one?
It's fun. Never underestimate the importance of enjoying learning, because, if you're doing it on your own and it's not fun, it's very easy to give up, or at least take a (long) break. Studying needs to be interesting and captivating. This book is just that. It provides basic lessons, with useful vocabulary and grammar - not too much, not too little - and allows you to practice it in the book and using the CD, in a fun and engaging way. It has interactive conversations on the CD, cut-out games and flash cards in the book, and the typical textbook exercises are not long, tedious, or repetitive. The book provides the reading portion and the CD teaches the proper pronunciation.
One of the best parts of this book is the fact it forces you to learn the alphabet, by making you read simple words in the script. It doesn't introduce the alphabet, which is why I would suggest reading a book like "The Arabic Alphabet" by Awde & Samano, but it's very difficult to memorize an alphabet without actually applying it, as this book makes you do.
Although the book does not leave you with a large vocabulary or much grammar, in an easy and fun manner it gives you the basics to work from. I would definitely recommend it.
So why this choose this one?
It's fun. Never underestimate the importance of enjoying learning, because, if you're doing it on your own and it's not fun, it's very easy to give up, or at least take a (long) break. Studying needs to be interesting and captivating. This book is just that. It provides basic lessons, with useful vocabulary and grammar - not too much, not too little - and allows you to practice it in the book and using the CD, in a fun and engaging way. It has interactive conversations on the CD, cut-out games and flash cards in the book, and the typical textbook exercises are not long, tedious, or repetitive. The book provides the reading portion and the CD teaches the proper pronunciation.
One of the best parts of this book is the fact it forces you to learn the alphabet, by making you read simple words in the script. It doesn't introduce the alphabet, which is why I would suggest reading a book like "The Arabic Alphabet" by Awde & Samano, but it's very difficult to memorize an alphabet without actually applying it, as this book makes you do.
Although the book does not leave you with a large vocabulary or much grammar, in an easy and fun manner it gives you the basics to work from. I would definitely recommend it.
reviewed by mountaindew on November 29, 2006 8:19 AM
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Now, I am speaking from the point-of-view of a person who has a native command of the Arabic language and tutors people in Arabic. I would strongly recommend you find someone to tutor you if you want to learn the language rather quickly and hopefully from someone who is good at both English and Arabic. At least someone who will get you through deciphering the alphabet. The book that says the 100 words in Arabic by the same authors would be a necessary companion to this book. If you don't get it, at least you will need a good book that explains the alphabet and if you do not pull something off the net and you will fine. This book is written rather well, has good pictures, captivates the interest of the reader, has a CD. I just would have liked if they had the alphabet in the beginning, but at least they have it in the back of the book if you look. So I would recommend this book if you want a quick introduction to useful Arabic for a Westerner going to an Arabic country and needing how to ask for directions, order food, ask about someone's family...
reviewed by gilbert on November 29, 2006 11:05 AM